Black Muslim woman who tweeted N-word about Alexander Isak has case dropped
Jamila Abdi used the term in a post about the Newcastle United star, arguing that it was not obscene or offensive within Black communities
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The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has dropped its case against a Black Muslim university student who tweeted the N-word about a Black footballer.
Jamila Abdi, 22, had been charged under the Communications Act 2003 with using “obscene communications” after writing of Black Newcastle United footballer Alexander Isak in August 2023: “I’m so p***** off let me get my hands on that f**** n***a.” Her tweet was picked up by an organisation monitoring for racist abuse of football players online during matches.
In her first interview since prosecutors dropped the case on Wednesday, Abdi said the CPS had “wasted taxpayers’ money trying to prosecute Black people for using the language that they have always known”.
“I do believe we can be prejudiced towards each other,” she said. “We can be anti-Black towards each other in the sense of the conversations people have about appearance, hair texture, colourism. But to say that I can be racist to another Black person by saying the N-word casually is ridiculous.”
She added: “Black people, especially young men and women, and children in school, are policed and punished for the ways we speak, regardless of where we are. Whether you’re in school, whether you’re at work, and now this. It doesn’t surprise me.”
Police had arrived at Abdi’s London home in December 2023 while she was out. She described feeling “scared and confused” after hearing from her mother that officers were looking for her.
“When I heard that it was for tweets, I was very confused — specifically a racial tweet — because I’ve never done anything like that,” she explained. “I’ve never said anything racist. That’s not the kind of person I am. So I was like, maybe they have me confused with someone else.”
Abdi was charged in July 2024. At the time, a CPS spokesperson told the Independent newspaper: “Being from an ethnic minority background does not provide a defence to racially abusing someone.”
Had the case made it to court, she had planned to rely on the argument that the N-word is rooted in Black linguistic and cultural practices, rather than being offensive or obscene when used within Black communities.
But the charge was dropped after her defence lawyers argued that there was not enough evidence to prosecute her, and that it was not in the public interest to do so.
Ghislaine Sandoval, Abdi’s solicitor, said Abdi should never have been charged in the first place. “Free speech by people of colour is being over-policed and over-criminalised,” she said. “There is a lack of cultural understanding and awareness of the language and how it is used by diverse communities.”
Her barrister Ife Thompson added: “The mainstream ‘colourblind’ approach to racism ignores the nuances of Black identity, leading to discriminatory outcomes like this one.”
It comes six months after Marieha Hussain was found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence for carrying a satirical placard depicting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman as “coconuts” at a protest for Palestine.
Speaking to Hyphen about the support she had received from Hussain personally, Abdi said: “She just kept reminding me: ‘You can’t let this affect your education. Don’t let them win — you have to continue living your life. Even though they’re trying to prosecute, you just have to live and exist.’ Thank God I calmed down.”
Abdi expressed gratitude for support from her lawyers and campaign groups such as Justice for Jamila, a coalition of community groups including Black Lives Matter UK, Sisters Uncut, 4Front, Art Not Evidence and BLAM UK.
A CPS spokesperson told Hyphen: “After careful consideration, and in line with our duty to keep all charged cases under review, we have concluded there is no longer sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction, and the case has been discontinued.”
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